Defensive Reactions
"If you wait patiently, everything will turn out all nght." This statement may sometimes be true, but usually problems are not solved so easily, much as we should like to think they are. This kind of statement is typical of the person who depends too much on someone else or who rationalizes his behavior and shows other common defensive reactions.
Defensive behaviors fall into various descriptive types and classifications, many of them arbitrary. In effect, a defense mechanism is a coping process which operates to some extent more in the mind of the individual than in reality. It is a response that enables an individual to avoid or lessen threat; it is a substitute or partial adjustment. Defensive behaviors deal with problems that lie somewhere between effective solution and no solution. We all fall back from time to time on defeme mechanisms, and since we all use them, in the statistical sense they are normal. Used in excess they may be harmful when they prevent us from searching out better solutions to our problems. On the positive side, they serve, at least temporarily, to reduce' our anxiety, to allow us to "play for time" in working out a better solution. These substitute adjustments are described below.
Dependency
Statistics show that dependency is used more often than is its opposite, self-reliance. Dependency shows up in several ways in what people do not do. Chief among these failures is unwillingness to make decisions or to exert extra effort. Dependency is sometimes characteristic of the person who appears satisfied with the status quo and is willing to "let George do it"~ven though George will get all the credit. This mechanism is related to conformity in behavior; it is less threatening to agree than to be different.
The dependent adult is much like the dominated child who constantly wants to be reassured. Dependency can be a roadblock to individual productivity. For example, technical or professional obsolescence can result from the individual's failure to apyraise himself, particularly when oth~r people may be overprotective with him.
Projection
In this reaction, the individual attributes to others motivations which he recognizes in himself. Thus, the dishonest or greedy person may judge others to be just like him. Projection is not only a poor judgment; it is also a false belief. The individual who employs projection perceives in other people the motives and traits about which he Is sensitive and anxious himself. The man who pads his expense account may ease his guilt by saying that it is a part of the "culture of the organization" ("everybody does it"). The young person who does not feel he is being listened to may project his feelings against "the system."One favorite whipping boy in our technological age is the computer, certainly a boon to the person who likes to lay blame on some relatively inanimate object. This is somewhat comparable to the attitude of the baseball batter who looks critically at the bat when he strikes out. Projection can be considered logical to the person using it on the ground that it "makes sense." The extremely rigid person, unwilling to admit his lack of flexibility, may project against the person with new ideas in the belief that this person is naive, poorly informed, or irresponsible. At an extreme level, projection can be thought of as a defense mechanism for the paranoid individual who believes that someone else is seeking to injure him, when in reality he has thoughts of injuring that person.
Identification
Identification is the reverse of projection; a person claims as his the admirable traits of others. It is common in grade school for the student to identify with a favorite teacher, or for the high school quarterback to identify with the pro. Identification may be good or bad, depending both on the individual's goals and on those of the person with whom he or she identifies. In identification we tend to copy the other person's actions and even his attitudes. We can also think of identification as a method of reducing tension by "taking on" the achievement of another person or group of people.
Identification can be an important aid in training. The beginning employee is in a stressful situation because he does not know what is expected of him just when he wants to make a good impression. Thus, the new worker may identify with the worker at the next bench; the copilot may identify with the pilot. As stated above, this may be.good or bad, depending on the interaction of the person with his work climate and on the goals of the organization. People join clubs,lodges, and unions 'in part of the satisfaction of identification. In the same way, we identify with our possessions. Owning an expensive home Of car tells us that we are "successful." Identification, like other defenses, is rarely adopted deliberately, nor is the person usually aware of it as an adjustment. Identifications sometimes lead to difficulty; the person may identify with the wrong values or the wrong crowd.
Compensation
Compensation is a very common defense mechanism, for most of us feel inadequate in so many ways. When achievement of an original goal is blocked, we may substitute a second goal and reach it instead. For example, the small person may develop a deep, husky voice as compensation. A student who has high ability in mechanical skills but who is weak in speaking and writing may compensate by becoming outstanding in tuning an engipe. Compensations serv.e not only as substitutes for some other achievement, but also divert attention from our inadequacies. Thus, they help us by reducing some of the expressed or implied criticism that produces anxiety.
Compensation, like identification, may be pushed too far. College counselors report that many failing students have been pushed into inappropriate programs ,of study to satisfy the compensatory needs of their parents.
Overcompensation
Frustration often leads to overcompensation, providing for the individual some measure of ego-protection. Failure in the classroom or in a business deal may make a man attempt to regain his self-respect by bragging about earlier accomplishments. Whereas compensation may lead toward an effective adjustment, overcompensation may bring about obnoxious behavior. Common examples are talking too loudly, showing off, or insisting on holding to some position that is unreasonable. In the long run, overcompensation may increase anxiety rather than reduce it.
Reaction Formation
Reaction formation consists of attempting to conceal motives by publicly displaying attitudes that are their direct opposites. A feeling of hostility. toward another person may be covered by excessive thoughtfulness in dealing with him. We may well suspect the presence of this defense mechanism whenever "righteous indignation" occurs out of all proportion to the circumstances. One counselor ,reports the case of a.n athlete who used every opportunity to extol the virtues of his coach, whom he disliked very much. Sometimes we may resolve conflict by strengthening one of the motives. The shy person whose past experience has caused him to feel anxiety in face-to-face communication with other people may react by displaying gruff and aggressive behavior.
One of the difficulties in recognizing reaction formation is that different people may react the same in a given situation but for diverse reasons. One person may display highly moral attitudes and preoccupation with socially approved objectives as reaction formation, while another reacts out of real concern. Again, the intensity of the reaction can clue us in to its sincerity. If it is irrational, it may be reaction formation. Another guide is that reaction formation usually occurs under fairly special circQmstances. We can think of reaction formation as an exaggerated expression of some behavioral tendency e,xactly opposed to some "repressed" impulse. Genuine expressions of an impulse are not usually extreme, nor are they compulsive. One clinician says that we often reverse emotion in speech; instead of expressing hostility toward another person, we express love. Presumably, the stronger the hostility, the more intense the positive expression of love.
Rumor
For some people the starting or spreading of rumor may be considered defensive behavior. Rumors may be started deliberately for political ends or they may be intentionally inspired, serving competitive need to build one's own ego. Rumors tend to flow best horizontally, and they spread more widely when they are ambiguous. Knowledgeable people are less likely than the uninformed to transmit rumors, particularly in a crisis situation. Errors in relaying rumors are in the direction of what one expects to hear rather than what one actually hears. This relates to the factor of set in perception, where the perceiver selects certain aspects of the environment and ignol'es others. There is a tendency for the person with a "high crisis quotient" to like rumors, particularly those that relate to negatiye things about groups or organizations. Rumor is also fostered by expectation.
Rationalization
So common is rationalization that we may tend to overlook it as a defense mechanism. At times we all go through the process of justifying our conduct or opinions by inventing socially acceptable reasons; rationalization is a wishful-thinking defensive reaction. The person tries to find an "out" by coming up with a plausible excuse for failure.
Rationalization is not reasoning, although it may have such an appearance. Reasoning is the process of seeking a true answer to a problem, whereas rationalization justifies an answer that already has been determined by esire, without reasons, intent, or purpose. It is, in effect, an attempt to "make sense" out of feelings and behavior in conflict situations. Rationalization shows up in a variety of forms to help us believe what w'e want to believe rather than what is true. These forms range from "sour grapes" to those "unfair objective exams." Of course, rationalization may sometimes help us protect ourselves from' anxiety when we are in an anxiety-producing situation. In the long run, however. it is no satisfactory substitute for reality.
Intellectualization
We may try to cope with some problem and wind up overplaying objectivity. Intellectualization is the defensive. maneuve'r by which the person tries to remain untouched emotionally by some threatening event; he becomes overly analytical and detached. Science students sometimes fati prey to this mechanism because it is an extension of the objectivity they are taught to value. The unattractive person who is not sought after by the opposite sex may intellectualize his or her position by an attitude of staying free by remaining detached.
Scapegoating
The displacing of aggression onto some object. person, or group is scapegoating and is usually harmful to both the individual and the recipient; it is sometimes related to prejudice. In scapegoating we often hnd agreement with other people seeking out defensive behavior. And, in college. we have an ever-present situation whereby the student can join with others in blaming the educational system for his lac-k of progress. One socially undesirable effect of scapegoating is that a minority group can become the focus of attack in which large numbers of people are willing to participate. The individual may feel less personal guilt when he or she is part of a group focusing on some other group.
